Shipping container construction



.Mai' 30, 193 o. M. MASTERS ET AL SHIPPING CONTAINER CONSTRUCTION Filed July 12, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATT IJHNEY May 30, 193 0. M. MASTERS ET AL SHIPPING CONTAINER CONSTRUCTION Filed July 12, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 {Ah/i; ATTORNEY y 1939. o MASTERS ET AL 2,160,221

SH IPPING CONTAINER CONSTRUCTION Filed July 12, 1965 3 Sheets-She et 3 WITH E55 I I 5' 22 M 24W KM ATTEIRNE v 35 and damage in. transit.

. tainer comprising a plurality of ply of paper Patented Ma.3o,"1939 Q h I 2,160,221

UNITED "STATES/PATENT OFFICE smPPiNG CONTAINER CONSTRUCTION Orville M. Masters and Henry a. Stager,

Syracuse, N. Y.

. Application July 12, 1935, Serial No. 31,079 c cl ims. (01. 229-14) Our invention relates to shipping containers structure adapted to be used in a shipping conand more particularly to a ew and improved tainer for protecting the top or bottom of the means for protecting the ob ct to. be shipped object to be shipped, s'uch top or bottom padding when packed, and a' method oi making such being part of a skeleton lining for the enveloping means. Y 1 A container and each being formed of a singleunit In the shipping containers of the prior art used of paper board-scored and folded to form a single for packing for shipment radios, refrigerators angular four sided skeleton enclosure for proand other heavy or bulky articles which are like tecting the perimeter of the top or bottom of the 1y to be damaged in transit, it has been customary object to be shipped.

to enclose the object to be shipped in a solid Our invention further contemplates'the pro- 10 walled container of wood or paper board and vision of a method of forming the individual space it from the side walls of the container by padding and spacing units for' a shipping convarious means such as straw, paper board, etc. tainer whereby a complete skeleton lining for the When paper board is used it has been found just container may be formed quickly and cheaply. as satisfactory and much more economical, ln- Morespeciflcally our invention has for an ob- 1o stead of a complete lining of paper board, merely 'ject the provision of a method of forming the to provide comer members of paper board to keep individual corner pads for the sides, top and botthe radio or other article spaced from the side tom of a skeleton padding and spacing structure walls of the shipping container. Such corner tobe used in a shipping container in which the spacing devices orpads have hitherto been made individual pads are formed of a single unit of 20 up of single unitsof paper board folded at the paper board scored, slit and folded into a-unitary midpoint with the several units pasted together corner construction.

to form a-corner unit of a plurality of thicknesses Other objects and advantages of our invention or ply of paper board. Such a-comer structure. will be more apparentfrom the following 'specimade of corrugated paper board, is shown'in Agar floation when taken inconJunct'ion with the ac- 25 Patent No. 1,613,152 issued January 4, 1927. companying drawings in which: g L While the construction shown in the Agar Figure 1;. is a perspective view showing a pro patent has been found fairly satisfactory as far tective corner pad for use in a shipping container as protecting the article being shipped is conmade of single walldouble faced corrugated paper 7 i cerned', it is quite expensive to nianufactureandboard, a J 30 an object of our invention is therefore to provide Figure 2 is a perspective view of the protectivev a shipping container which is more economical comer pad of Figure 1 prior to folding and showto manufacture and whi'clrat the same time serves ing the manner of scoring and sectionaliztng the more effectively to protect the article from shocks: pad unit. p

g Y Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 1 showing .35 Another "object of our invention is the proa protective corner pad made up of single wall vision of a shipping container having reinforcedouble faced corrugated paper board in which ment means or pads at the corners thereof which the number of piy'on each mde oithe corner is engage the corn'ers'of the object to be shipped to increased over that shown in Figure l.

40 space it from the sidewalls oi the container and Figure 4 is a view similar to .1 $1 3 showing 40 protect it from d e during s pm the manner of scoring and sectionalizina double A "Our invention further-contemplates the pron ated paper board to form a protective vision oi a protective corner padding Structure rner pad structure. .each of which as used in the container is made up gu 5 is a perspective View showing the of a single unit of paper board scored and foldedv wnstmctmn illustrated Figure 4 m fold-ed 45 tororm a protective corner pad having a plurality condmm of ply of paper board at each side of thecorner. we 6 is a perspective View similar Figure .Still another object of our invention is the 1 provision oi a skeleton lining for a shipping con 1 which mple wan i paper mm is board which. may be used without pasting it into w U8 a W View illustrating e the enveloping container and without the mm m with the to sity of glueing the individual ply to each other; WW PM stru tm'e ally fl v Our invention further contemplates the proto illustrate itaconstructi l vision of a unitary top and'bottom ornend l Hmre' 8 is a perspective view showins th-nro- 55 tective skeleton corner pad structure illustrated in Figure 7.v

Figure 9 is a view taken on the line 9-9 of Figure 8.

Figure 10 is a perspective view showing single wall double faced corrugated paper board scored and sectionalized to form the top or bottom sections of the protective skeleton padding.

Figure 11 is a perspective view showing the structure of Figure 10 folded on the sectio'nalizing lines.

Figure 12 is a perspective view showing the structure of Figures 10 and 11 and illustrating the manner of folding the pad on the scoring lines to formone corner of the top or bottom units of the skeleton padding.

Figure 13 is a perspective view of the structure of Figures 10, 11 and 12, showing a portion of the top or bottom units of the skeleton padding in completely folded condition.

Figure 14 is a view similarto Figure 9 showing 1 a modified construction employing single wall corrugated paper board for forming thetop or as those known in the art to which this inventionapplies as solid fibre, pasted chip board, box

board with a liner and in general may be madeof any board having a liner and a filler, it is preferably made of corrugated paper board. We have found that padding and spacing units for use in a shipping containerrnade of single wall double faced corrugated paper board are very eflective to protect articles being shipped due to the resilient and yet firm and rigid characteristics of that type of paper board.

In Figures 1 and 2 we have illustrated a unit- ,of single wall double faced corrugated paper board comprising a corrugated filler and'facing sheets of cardboard, the inner of which is generally designated by thenumeral l2 and the outer of which is generally designated'by the numeral II. The unit of paper board is chosen of a length adapted to fit on a vertical comer of the article being shipped and the width is chosen in accordance with the number of ply and the size of corner desired. The unit of paper board shown is adapted to be scored and slit and then folded as shown in Figure 1. While the structure of Figure 2 may be scored and slit or seetionallzed in any suitable manner as by hand, we

- preferably utilize a machine known, in the art to which this invention applies, as a slitting and scoring machine. While a slitting and scoring machine employing circular saw type knives for the slitting operation may be used and may be preferable for slitting some materials, we prefer-.

ably use ,a slitting and scoring machine of the type generally illustrated in Figure 16. Preferably the'corrugated paper board, whether consisting of single, double or triple wall corrugated paper board is scored and slit in a direction perpendicular to the corrugations.

w The slitting and scoring machine illustrated in Figure 16, while the details thereof have not been shown, in general comprises side stands i4 and I6 between which a rod or pair of rods |1 extend for retaining the side stands in upright position. A plurality of shafts l8, l9, 2| arid 22 are journaled in the side stands and carry the scoring and slitting devices. The shaftsextend through the sidestands at one end and have mounted on the ends thereof pulleys 23 which may be driven from any suitable source of power. On the shaft 22 are mounted a plurality of cutting knives 24 each of whichis adjustably secured to the shaft bymeans of a set screw 26. On the shaft I9 which lies immediately beneath the shaft 22 are mounted a plurality of anvils 21 which are similarly adjustably secured on the shaft by means of set screws 28. The shaft 2| lies in the same horizontal plane as the shaft 22 and has mounted thereon a plurality of anvils 29 which are similar to the anvils 21 and similarly adjustable along I the shaft 2| upon which they are mounted. The shaft 8 is mounted in the same vertical plane as the shaft 2| and in the same horizontal plane as the shaft I9 and has mounted thereon a plurality of cutting knives 3| which are also adan entire side corner of the skeleton padding is passed through the machine in one piece so as to score and slit the paper board at all the de-- sired points at the same time so that when the pad unit leaves the slitting and scoring machine it is ready for folding; For example, the corrugated paper board of Figure 2, in the unscored and unslit condition; is reversed from the position shown to bring the facing l3 uppermost and then fed into the machine. The scoring knife 32 forms scoring 34 in the paper board while the knives 24 form the slits 36 on the facing sheet |3 and the knives 3| form the slits 31 on the facing sheet |2. The knives and anvils of the machine of Figure 16 are spaced apart a distance sufficient to cut through one facing sheetand the corrugated sheet H but not through both facing sheets so that the complete corner pad unit of Figure 2 comprises a plurality of unsevered sections 38, 39, 40,"4|, 42, 43, 44 and. 45 which are adapted to be folded together to' form the structure shown in Figure 1.

The various sections of the corner pad unit are of several widths in order that the center of the corner, at the point indicated by the numeral 41, when the pad unit is in the folded condition, is completely i'llled'with material. The variable spacing is, of course, accomplished by setting the knives and anvils of the machine shown in Figure 16 at the desired spacing to produce the incisions 36 and 31 at the desired points. For example, the sections 42 and 43 are preferably made the same in width while the section. 44 which is folded on the hinge formed by the incision 36 through 180 upon the section 43 is made slightly narrower. The decrease in width of the section 44 is equal to the thicknesses of one ply of single wall double faced corrugated paper board so that when the section 45, which is the same width as'the section 44, is folded on its sectionalizing line 31 it will enable the sections 42 and is to be folded with respect-to each other at a true right angle joint. Similarly the section's 40 and: 4| are made narrower than the "width of section 42 by-the thickness of three-ply ofsingle wall double faced I corrugated paperboard.

"that the section '38 which iscontiguous to it may-beiolded at a 90 angle upon the face of the-section :whereby an inner smooth Joint 49 isformed which faces'upon the article to be packed for shipment. If desiredsection 38 may. be omittedjin which case the section 39 is madeof the same width as the section 40. However, this construction has the disadvantage of leaving an open joint at .9 and makes the number of ply on opposite sides .of the corner unequal. It will be observed from Figure 1 that a complete, solid comer protective pad structure is formed which is unsevered throughout its length and may be used in a container without the necessity of pasting the various sections together. While we have shown the sections 42 and 13 between which the scoring line 34' is made as forming the outside of the corner, it will of course be appreciated that by reversing the slits or incisions 36 and 31 the pad may-be reversely foldedsojthat the scoringline 34 lies on the inside of the corner.

In Figure 3 we have illustrated a modified form of the construction shown in Figure 3 in which the sections 46', M, 42', 43, 4d and d5 correspond respectively to the sections 66, M, 32, d3, id and d5 of.Fig11re 2. Two sections 5i and 52 are added on to the end of section db. These sections are made less in width than the width ofsection 13" by thethickness of three ply of single wall double faced corrugated paper board.

-Similarly four sections, 53 5d, 55 and 56, are

added to the end of section 49. 'I'hese sections are narrower than the width of section 62' by the thickness of five ply of single wall double face corrugated paper board. en cut in the manner described above thecomplete protective corner pad may be folded into the form shownin Figure 3 whereby'a right angle joint will be I any desired number of ply or a different number of ply on each side of'the corner. For example, as shown in Figure 1, there are four ply of single wall double faced corrugated paper board on each side of the cornenwhile in-Flgure3, one side of the corner has seven andthe other side five thicknesses of single wall double-faced corrugated paper board. Thus a protective corner pad can be built up by properly determining the widths of the various sections so that any. odd oreven number of. p19 wilLlic on one side of The section 89 the corner and any odd or even number of ply will lie on the other side of the corner. The protective corner pad may therefore be varied to conform to the type of article being shipped and with relation to its fragility. In Figures 4 and 5 we have illustrated a protective corner pad construction which is made out of double 'wall corrugated paper board in a similar manner to that described in connection with the single wall double faced corrugated paper board. The essential difference in the construction lies in the fact that two outer facing sheets 59 and are used and two corrugated filler sheets 68 and 62 separated by an inner sheet 63. 'The complete corner unit is scored and sectionallzed as shown in Figure 4 by the machine shown in Figure 16. It will'be appreciated that the spacing of the scctionalizing lines must be changed from that described above so that the corner pad structure can be folded as shown in Figure 5. By properly scoring and sectionalizing the double wall corrugated paper board scoring 64 and incisions 66,

66' and till are formed which enable the pad unit to be folded as shown in'Figure 5.

In Figure 6 we have illustrated still another modification of the structure illustrated in Figure 1 in which the protective corner pad is made up of triple wall corrugated paper board which is scored and sectionalized with the required spacing by the machine shown in Figure 16 into sections 68, 69,10, ii, 12 and 73, thus forming.

a corner pad structure which has 9 ply of corrugated paper board on each side of the corner. From the structures described andiiliustrated in Figures 1 to.6 inclusive it will be observed c that a prctective'corner pad of any desired length and having any desired number of ply of corrugated paper board material may be built up and that when in completely folded condition the protective skeleton padding illustrated in Figures 7 and 8. a

In Figures 9 to 14 inclusive we have illustrated the manner of making the top it or bottom ill protective corner pads shown in assembled form in Figures 7 and 8. Informing the top and buttom comer pad units a piece of single wall double faced corrugated paper board is chosen of a length (for clarity, the length of the paper board is indicated by the arrow A in Figure 10) suificient to extend, when in folded condition, completely around the perimeter of the top of the article to bepacked for shipment. The unit ofsingle wall double faced corrugated paper board, shown in Figure 10, is scored at 18 and sectionalized at '19, 80, Bi, 82, 83 and 84 on alternate sides of the unit, by the machine shown in Figure 16, forming pad sections 85, 86, Bl, 88, 89, 99, 9i and 92. The unit of corrugated paper board of Figure 10 is then folded into the condition shown in Figure 11 by laying the pad sections 41 and 88 fiatwise and then folding section .86 upon section 81 and folding section upon .'section 86. The sections 89 and slate made of a width such as to leave, when folded as shown in protective pad may be used to' form a leg it of the Figure 11, a square opening 93 of a width equal of section]! equal totwo thicknesses of same width as. the

wall double faced corrugated paper board. After the protective pad unit of Figure 10 has been folded into the condition shown in Figure 11 it is placed in the machine shown in Figure 17 where it ismitred as indicated at 94 and scored as indicated at 95.

, The machine shown in Figure 17 comprises side stands 99 and 99 and a head IN. The head IOI has formed on the ends thereof slides I02 which are slidable in guides I09 formed in the side stands. The slides I02 are reciprocated in the guideways I09 in any suitable manner, for example by the mechanism indicated in the drawings. I02, is eccentrically secured to a rotatable geared driving member I05 which is rotated by means of a gear I05 which may be driven from any suitable source of power.

The head IOI has a longitudinal slot I00 formed therein along which is slidably secured a plurality of male dies I09. The dies I09 may be held in the slots by means of bolts I I0 which permit the adjustability of the dies I09 along the head to vary the spacing between them. Beneath the head "I and extending between the side stands and 99 are a pair of cross members III and" I I2 having slots II! for accommodating bolts II4 which are used to secure female die members II5 adjustably on the cross members I II and H2. Each of the male die members I09 has a scor-v ing arm II'I extending therefrom and each of the female die members has a scoring groove III whereby the pad unit shown in Figure 11 may be placed in the machine and mitred as at 94, and scored as at simultaneously. The machine shown in Figure 17 is set up to mitre and score the pad.unit at four places simultaneously to form the four corners of the top or bottom corner pad sections out of one unit of paper board. It will, of course, be appreciated that the mitred joint 94 and the scoring 95 enables the pad unit to be folded so as to form the corners I2I of the top or bottom members It and I1. It

will also be appreciated that the die members arespacedbetween the side stands of the machine the distance apart required for properly spacing the corners I2I to accommodate the perimeter of the top or bottom of the article to be packed.

After the structure shown in Figure 11 has been mitred and scored as indicated at 94 and 95 it is folded on each of the scoring lines 95, so that the four sides of the top or bottom corner pad units are formed. One corner in this folded condition is shown in Figure 12. The structure is then folded from the condition shown in Figure'12 to the condition shown in Figure 13 by folding the sections 9I along the sectionalizing line 94 on oppositesides of the scoring 95 to a position at right angles to pad sections 92. Folding the pad unit from the condition shown in Figure 12 to the conditionshown in Figure 13' causes the sections 9| and 92 to move with respect to the sections 95 and the sections 85, 96 and 01 to be folded at right angles to the section 90 along the scoring line I9 whereby the space 99 is completely filled and the edges of the sections 92 "are brought fiush with the edges of the sections 95, 99 and 01. In the position shown in Figure 13 the mitred joints 94, four in number in a complete top or bottom pad unit, fit together and make a complete square cornered structure. After the pad unit has been folded with its corners as indicated in Figure 13 the complete top or bottom pad unit may be held together by A pitman I04, secured to the guide.

pasting strips of paper over the joint I 2I. Also if desired paper may be pasted over the mitred joints to hold the assembly. more rigidly in position.

In Figures 14 and 15 we have illustrated a modified form of the construction illustrated in Figures 9 to 13 inclusive. The pad of Figure 15 which is a view similar to that of Figure 10 is scored at I24 and sectionalized at I26, I21, I29, I29, I30 and I3I by means of the machine shown in Figure 16. After being folded into av condition similar to that illustrated in Figure 11 it is mitred and scored as illustrated in Figure 11 by means of the machine shown in Figure 17, after which it is folded into a condition similar to that illustrated in Figure 12. Figure 14 is a view similar to Figure 9 which is taken on the line 9-9 of Figure 8. The advantage of the construction shown in Figure 14 lies in the fact that the number of ply on the top half I34 of the corner is tending on the top of the article may be increased or decreased in accordance with the protective needs of the article to be shipped. It will of course be appreciated that double wall or triple wall corrugated board may also be used for forming the top or bottom units of the skeleton padding.

After the leg pads I5 and the top and bottom pad units I6 and 11 of the skeleton protective padding have been completely formed, they may be secured around the object to be shipped by placing the leg pads at the vertical corners of,

for example, a refrigerator, and the top and bottom pad units I5 and II at the top and bottom of the refrigerator respectively after which, by means of adhesive paper the leg pads may be secured to the top and bottom pad units to form a complete skeleton padding extending around the refrigerator. The entire unit, with the skeleton padding, may then be slipped into a packing case Ill inade of paper board or wood. While the skeleton padding may be secured in position on the article to be shipped as described above, with most articles'to be shipped it is found preferable to place the bottom pad unit 11 in position on the bottom of the container I33 and thenplace ,the leg pads I5 in position or else place the object to be shipped in the container After the article to be shipped is in position in the and then wedge the leg pads into place.

container the cover pad 19 may be placed over the top thereof. In this manner of assembling the container the legs 15 are, of course, unsecured to the top and bottom sections 19 and 11.

This is, however, unnecessary as the leg pads are securely held in place by "the outer walls of the container I39. When shipping certain types. of articles either a bottom section or a top section, or perhaps both, may not be required, in which case either or both may be omitted and only the leg pads I5 used.

The protective corner pads of our invention may be slit and scored by the manufacturer thereof and shippedin a flat. unfolded conditiofi'to the manufacturer of the article to be packed for shipment or, if desired, the pads may be folded and pasted to retain their desired angular condition and shipped to the manufacturer of theaarticle to be packed for shipment ready for insertion in the enclosing container;

It is believed that the method of making our protective skeleton pad structure is suiiiciently clear from the foregoing description and it will be apparent that we have provided asimple and improved shipping container, the protective skeleton pad structure of which may be quickly and easily cut and assembled in the proper form refrigerator or other device is packed. It will also be observed thatwe have provided a simple and economically manufactured protective corner pad construction which'has a certain amount 5 of resiliency and yet which will be sufliciently bottom of an article to be shipped which comprises sectionalizing without severing a unitary paper board element, folding the paperboard element on the sectionalizing lines to form a padding unit having a plurality of ply of paper board, miterlng one edge of the paper board element to form corners, and folding the paper board element so as to bring the mitered edges together to form a rectangular, angular top padding structure.

2. A method of forming a protective padding for use in a shipping container for the top or bottom of the article'to be shipped which comprises sectionalizing without severing a unitary pjaper board element, folding the paper board ement on the sectionalizing lines to form a dding unit having a plurality of ply of paper board, mitering the paper board element, scoring the paper board element on a lineextending from the apex of the miter, folding the paper board. element on said scoring, and again folding the paper board element to bringflthe mitered edges together.

3. A protective corner padfor use in a ship-v Ding container which comprises a unit of paper board having contiguous corner panels substantially fully'joined together along a-corner crease on the inner surface ofsaid paper board, a par- 6i tially severed, panel adjoining one of said corner panelsand attached: thereto along an incision substantially parallel to said crease and extending through only most of the thickness of the paper board from. the outer surface thereof to a depth sufficient to enable said partially severed panel to be readily folded along said inciion through 180 degrees flat against the inner surface of its adjacent corner panel and remain.

in such folded position, and said partially sevcred panel being of such width as to abut against. the inner surface of the opposite c er panel and form a square butt joint when. said partially severed panel is folded flat e t its corner panel and the two corner panels e folded toward each other about said crease so that their inner surfaces are facing and substantially perpendicular to one another.

4. A protective corner pad for use in a shipping container which comprises a unit of paper and easily placed in the container in which" the board having contiguous corner panels substantially fully joined together along a corner crease onthe inner surface of said paper board, two partially severed panels each adjoining one of said corner panels and attached thereto along an incision substantially parallel to said crease.

and extending through only most of-the thickness of the paper boardfrom the-outer surface thereof to a depth sumcient to enable said partially" severed panel to be readily folded along said incision-through.l80degrees flat against the inner surface of its adjacentcorner .panel and remain in such folded position, one or said partially severed panels'bei'ng of suchfwidth ,as' to abut against the inner surface of the oppo te corner panel. and form asqua'rebuttjoint when:

said" partially se'vered panels are folded flat against their respective comer panels and the two corner panels are folded toward each other about said crease so that their inner surfaces are facing and substantially perpendicular to one another, and the' second of said partially severed panels being sumciently narrower than the first so as to'permit the latter panel to pass the end of the former panel and form said joint.

5. A protective corner pad for use in a shipping container which comprises a unit of paper board having contiguous comer panels substancrease extending into the paper board from the outer surface thereof and alternate incisions on the same side of said fold line extending into the paper board from opposite surfaces thereof, and said partially severed panels being of such width that when they are folded flat against their adjoining panels and the two comer panels -are folded toward each-other about said crease so that their inner surfaces are facing and substantially perpendicular to .one'- another, the 'edgesof said partially severed panels will abut against the facesof other panels and form asquare butt joint.

6. A protective corner pad for use in a ship-- ping container which" comprises a'unit of paper board having contiguous corner panels.v substantially fully joined together along a corner creaseon the inner surface of said paper-board, two

partially severed panels each adjoining one of said corner panels and attached .thereto along an incision substantially parallel to-said crease and extending through only most of the thick- 'ness of'the paper board from the outer surface thereof to a depth suiiicient to enable said par; tially severed panel to bereadily folded along said incision through degrees flat against the inner surface of its adjacent corner panel and remain in such folded positionfandeach of said surfaces are facing and substantially perpendicular to one another when said partially severed panels are folded flat against their respective comer panels.

onvmnn M. HENRY G. BTAGER. 

